Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Hockey World Cup diary: Planes, Poles and … power of Dutch hockey

The Hockey Paper’s 2023 World Cup diary and other observations from Rourkela and Bhubaneswar

Planes and airport pains

Millions have been spent on Rourkela becoming the second World Cup host city. What will become of the stadia after the hockey jamboree leaves town is up for debate. But for now, there are new roads, one of the best hockey stadia in the world and a newly-opened airport servicing a population of around 480,000.

Air travel is a novelty here and The Hockey Paper witnessed a plane backlog on Monday. With fog delaying four teams’ departures, including England and Wales and having put on separate charter flights, other commercial passengers were awaiting the inbound arrival of our departure to Bhubaneswar, which cost a mere £20 or so.

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